Nugget Nectar non-hype

If you asked a lambic brewer if their beer was "infected" or not really beer, I'd be curious to see the look on their face (not to say that they'd disagree or take offense). I don't know if it's literal or connotative to associate infection with something unwanted, but either way, successful lambic brewers will know what they want and will work to achieve that. I specifically mentioned Kriek because of the use of fruit and the impact to flavor and color. I think @oldbean 's point about original product is important to all of us. To use your examples, Pilsner and Gaffel (BTW - check out the thread I recently made in the Beer News section) more closely resemble the beers that many of us first encountered in our lives... but over the course of brewing history, they were the new kids and a radical departure compared to lambic. Beer was hazy and brown before it was clear and gold. If I gave a glass of Kriek to most of the people I know, I bet most of them wouldn't think of it as beer either. I'm thinking that this would be a bit true for an extreme NE IPA as well, just to a lesser extent. But notice how much your last paragraph maintains it's logic if we change the styles to AAL:

 

Nugget Nectar is a good beer, yes, but no, I don't like it as much as I used to. Yes, I do prefer NE IPAs now, but, regardless, there are much better red ales. I prefer Stone Pataskala over Nugget Nectar, and I prefer Clown Shoes Evil Crawfish over it. Actually, I think the best red ale I've ever had is 21st Amendment's Toaster Pastry Red IPA. If you can get it fresh, try it. Seriously. It's so good.

 

Hmm gonna hafta search those.

We have a local one from Rushing Duck named Kroovy that is amazing.. There is little doubt Nugget Nectar is the prototype for all these next generation Hoppy Ambers

 

All Troegs needs to do is add Mango/tropical fruits to it and/or make it hazy and make it "super duper limited" and it will sell like hot cakes again...

My feelings as well and it's the constant chicken/egg argument with me: IPAs are popular but of course they are, if you want to try something new that's what you're limited to. I catch myself falling into this trap at times as well when I am in the mood for something new and since each IPA can be so different from the next I typically won't hesitate to grab a new one to see what's doing. This is not bad for us consumers and I don't want to sound like I am ungrateful for that but...I think it's important for us to also support other styles and be sure to pick up old favorites too so that they don't disappear.

 

Ha! I will never call Pliny overrated. Still such an amazing beer. If you're fortunate enough to have it fresh at the brewery, it's 1000x better.

 

Definitely so. It's unfortunate that things are heading almost that IPA has the monopoly on the craft beer market. You're right on the point pertaining to its hard to find classics such as those, both of those especially the Sierra Nevada's Stout is something I came to enjoy a lot and always kept it in the fridge, fortunately I had legitimately one store near me that sold it consistently. But as their shelves expanded they were flooded with nothing but IPAs (and judging VA distribution woes they weren't exactly on the good end of the best by dates,)--replacing Anchor and Sierras classics. But looking at it internally brewery wise, they're placing those styles with new IPAs to appease the masses. I'd take year around Sierra Nevada Tumbler over both Side Car and Tropical Torpedo, both are decent beers but Tumbler is on another level it's just not the hot style unfortunately. It does suck, and as much as I do enjoy new style IPAs I try not to disown the simple delicious ones that got me into craft that were in place and had loyal drinkers long before I even knew what craft was (I'm 25). Here's to hoping tried and true beers that pioneered these newer beer's success don't fade out or become extinct as you said.

 

And another thing -- which I'm sure has been discussed ad nauseam elsewhere on BA -- Troegs didn't do itself any favors w/ the new branding. To me it is less appealing than the original.

 

As a newer craftee I had Nugget for the first time this year and loved it....I personally liked it better than Hopslam I think because I found the boozy/honey combo to be a little weird for me...As others have said - I think Nugget is much more balanced than other offerings out there...

 

Chris, permit me to share a story about Tom Baker (co-owner and head brewer) of two brewpubs in Philadelphia:

· Earth – Bread + Brewery (Mt. Airy – Philadelphia)

· Bar Hyyge (Fairmont – Philadelphia)

I recently attended the 1st Anniversary event at Bar Hygge and had a chance to speak to Tom Baker for about 15-20 minutes. As a homebrewer I pestered Tom with a bunch of technical brewing questions which he responded to with patience and grace. One of the discussion topics was IPAs. He volunteered that he personally was not a fan of the IPA beer style but his co-owner wife Peggy insisted that he brew IPAs for both brewery locations. She did so because she recognized the business demand for IPAs. Maybe Tom would have eventually decided to produce IPAs of his own volition (or maybe not) but his wife was the business leader on this issue.

There is an ongoing ‘argument’ between Tom and Peggy on how to best utilize some space at Bar Hygge (presently a lounge area but Tom would prefer it to be a dining area) but that is a problem for another day.

Cheers!

 

Agreed with the OP. NN is amazing this year and once again at a reasonable price. I actually prefer the First Cut over NN, which says a lot about FC. If you get a chance, try it. You will not regret it.

 

I'm not sure if you think this strengthens or weakens the analogy, but it still holds its logic to me.

And for the record, I love Cantillon, hazy IPAs, and Pilsners. To my palate and personal opinion, they're different things. But I'm not the Czar of Labeling, and I know many would disagree with me.

I also enjoy a light roasted gourmet coffee, dark roast, lattes, and a frappucino. But many coffee connoisseurs may only recognize one of those as "coffee". Which brings me to this story...

This also reminds me of George Howell and what he chose to brew in his original coffee shops. In order to compete he had to carry dark roasts (most speciality coffee shops don't carry dark roasts) because that "bold" flavor was more popular. Furthermore, he also invented the frappucino to stay competitive. You won't find frappucino's in his coffee shops today (ironically he sold his MA stores to Starbucks) but he still carries a dark roast.

 

I heard that guy was part of the Russian Imperial Court and that he loved strong British beers.

Cheers man.

 

Reasonable price? It's $14 a sixer at my local store, I personally don't think that's reasonable, but that's probably me. I can buy a 12 pack of Smuttynose Finest Kind IPA for that price and that's exactly what I did.

 

Sounds frigging AWESOME! And right up my alley. Thanks for sharing.

 

It is also $14 in PA, which is in fact reasonable.

 

How does that $14 NN sixer compare with Hopslam, or Grapefruit Sculpin? Just for the sake of context since beer prices fluctuate based on regions and pocket picking distribution companies/bottle shops.

 

$14/sixer here as well, which isn't too crazy but on the high end for what it is. The beer itself no longer stands out like it did 5+ years ago, just the price tag.

 

Stopped in at Ryan & Casey in Greenfield on my way down to CT last weekend and picked up a 6er of cans. I'd never had it before (no distro in VT) but heard many good things. I thought it was fantastic. Dripping with juicy hop goodness and a nice change of pace from the fresh/wet hop IPAs that I've enjoyed. A beer I'd buy on the regular and deserved of praise if not hype... I look forward to picking it up again next year.

 

I'd much more prefer a Nelson Nectar.

 

Finest Kind is the shit. I actually think it's one of the best shelf IPAs of the Northeast. It's really cheap, too. I can often find it for $9 a six pack. I hold Smuttynose in very high regard.